The advent of home health care has created a need for furniture that provides functional features for the patient as well as more conventional function for others. For example, chairs exist that are capable of reclining in a number of positions in the same manner as traditional, non-medical recliner chairs while being movable to a “heart-rest” position (also known as the Trendellenburg position). The heart-rest position is one in which the occupant of the chair is postured such that his legs are elevated to a height equal to or above his heart, with the result that blood is encouraged to flow to the heart rather than pooling in the legs. This position is often used to treat shock (particularly during dialysis treatments).
One exemplary chair that combines reclining capability with the capacity to move to the heart-rest position is discussed and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,367 to Mizelle. The Mizelle chair includes a relatively simple six-bar linkage system and can stop in any intermediate position between an upright and a fully reclined position. An attendant can then lift the front of the seat frame of the chair to bring the chair into a “heart-rest” position in which the seat frame, back frame and leg rest assume “the position of a lounge chair that has been tilted approximately 45 degrees.” Another exemplary chair, available from Lumex, Inc., utilizes a reclining mechanism from a conventional residential reclining chair. In this chair, the reclining mechanism is configured such that, once the chair is in a fully reclined position (i.e., one in which the backrest and seat have pivoted relative to one another so that the angle therebetween increases), a foot pedal can release the mechanism to continue its reclining motion, with the angle between the backrest and the seat continuing to increase. As a result, the heart-rest position of this chair provides a support surface in which mimics that of a hospital bed. Another exemplary chair, discussed in U.S. Pat. Publication No. 20030015893 to Hoffman et al., also utilizes a mechanism from a conventional three-way reclining chair. The chair can move from the fully reclined position to the heart-rest position by pivoting relative to the frame, such that the backrest and seat maintain a similar angle to one another; this pivoting movement is actuated by a foot pedal.
In view of the foregoing, additional configurations for health care chairs that serve specific functions or that separate the reclining and health care functions may be desirable.